Page 44 of Sneak Attack

She’d sought me out. And I couldn’t fathom the reason for it.

CHAPTER15

EDEN

Standing in Cole’s driveway, his beautiful, newer home that was large enough for a family but not overly huge for a man whose last contract renegotiation netted him thirty-six million dollars over the course of four years—and yeah, I knew that—it was a miracle my knees weren’t knocking together, and I was managing to stay on my feet.

At the sight of him appearing from the back of his house, I almost fainted. Skintight gray T-shirt. White athletic shorts. Bare feet that were hidden in the long grass, but the tan of his arms and the muscle in his arms, the curve of his chest and even his legs were a sight to behold.

Something I’d imagined for years. Dreamed of.

You were always mine.

Those four damn words.

They’d kept me up last night. Not even the wine I drank had an effect on me being able to forget them and neither did my sleep. No instead, I was tortured by those words, a dream of Cole hovering over me, that dark hair flopping over his brows as he leaned down above me, that sandalwood scent of his surrounding me while he brushed his thumb over my cheek and bent down, brushing his lips over my cheekbone.

Damn him and his sexy looks and his good guy attitude.

If only he could be a gigantic asshole with a string of red flags in his wake, it would have made it so much easier to avoid him, to not show up here and seek him out.

This might have been the worst decision I’d made since showing up in Marysville—or the best step forward I’d made in seven years.

“Can we talk?” I finally asked.

Cole had gone quiet, clearly waiting for me. He watched me with the same intensity I imagined he stared down opponents across the line of scrimmage.

He waved his arm out, gesturing toward his house, but I wasn’t ready for that.

Not to see where he lived exactly, orhowhe lived. If he’d made his house a home for him and Jasper and Bongo or if it was a barren space looking more bachelor pad than family home. No…the inside would wait, but he followed me up the steps to his porch where he had three walnut-stained rocking chairs, so very much like Marley’s with a different finish. At the edge of the porch was a water table, filled with boats and a couple Hot Wheels cars. Water that needed to be changed and cups that probably needed a good washing.

“Is Jasper here? I should have asked—”

“Selma picked him up a while ago. You want to come in? Have some coffee?”

“No.” Instead I slipped into the farthest rocking chair and gripped the armrests to keep me seated and not launching myself back into my car to flee.

He chuckled, a low gravelly sound that was amused, and I couldn’t look at him. Not with the morning sun beating down on my face, already making sweat prickle at the back of my neck. It was going to behottoday, and the humidity already made my skin sticky.

Especially not when I probably looked like I was being a coward, but in truth, this was the most courageous I’d been in seven years.

It was terrifying.

I’d either surprised the hell out of Cole, showing up here, or he was as nervous as I was because for the first time since I’d been back, he wasn’t the one starting the conversation.

Although, I had shown up at his own home out of the blue—not too unlike what he’d done to me at Marley’s—so really, he had this surprise visit coming to him.

“I always thought you and Selma were together,” I finally said, and it wasn’t how I wanted to start. Wasn’t what I wanted to say, but I could be honest with myself.

It was at the top of my list of things I was curious about.

“Always?”

“What?”

“You said always. You’vealwaysthought Selma and I were together.”

Well, that just gave away a lot. Too much. Heat ignited on my cheeks, and I turned back to the sun, hoping he’d think I was flushed from the heat of it instead of embarrassment.

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